Bag From Missing Missoni Plane Reportedly Found, Could Narrow Search

A new clue has emerged in the disappearance of Vittorio Missoni's plane, last seen off the coast of Venezuela on January 4.

WWD, citing Italian paper Corriere della Sera's website, is reporting that a bag has been found on the island of Curaçao, which could help narrow down the search area for the missing Missoni heir, his wife, two companions and the plane's two crew members.

According to the trade, the bag belongs to Italian tourist Giorgio Neri who stowed it on the Missoni aircraft because his own plane, which took off just moments after Missoni's on the same route from Los Roques to Caracas, was full.

The bag, which originally contained kite surfing equipment, was later found by a German tourist January 10 on the island of Curaçao, approximately 124 miles from Los Roques. Though it was empty of its contents, the bag was labeled with Neri’s contacts and when the German tourist returned home, he emailed Neri about his bag. The Italian tourist immediately alerted the Missoni family.

A Missoni spokeswoman confirmed they were aware of the new finding but said the family wasn't "drawing any conclusion."

"This is simply another piece of an already complex puzzle,” she said.

The bag could provide essential insight into the plane's disappearance--Corriere speculated that Missoni’s flight was directed south, toward Caracas, and that the sea currents transported the bag west. The Missoni search team is now concentrating its ongoing efforts in that area.

While the search for the plane carrying Vittorio Missoni, his wife, and two friends, continues, new information about the aircraft's pilot has come to light that could provide important clues in the plane's mysterious disappearance off the coast of Venezuela January 4.
According to Italian newspaper La Repubblica (via The Cut), ANSV, Italy's agency for flight security, learned that neither the pilot, 72-year-old Germán Marchan, nor the airline involved in the incident were fully licensed to operate.

Investigators are looking into wreckage from a plane found on the beach of Curacao, an island off the coast of Venezuela, to see if it could be the missing plane carrying Vittorio Missoni, Reuters is reporting.